Thermometer-case



A. BLACK. THERMOMETER CASE.

APPLICATION FILED IUNII4,` |919'.

Patented Mar.

l l m u a UNITED srATns PATneri?y onrion.

WILLIAM ANDnRsoN BLACK,A or WEST AsHEvILLn, NORTH CAROLINA.

To all whom t may concern e it known that l, VWILLIAM A. BLACK, mtr/gen ol.I the United States, residing at.

lVest Asheville, in the county of Buncombe and State of' North Carolina, have invented certain' new andv useful improvements in hei-mometer-(fases, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention -relates to surgical accessories, and more particularly to an Iimprove'- ment in instrument cases'especially adapted for carrying thermometers.

rlhe re'lativelv fragile andy Ldelicate nature of physicians thermometers is well known, and not only is lit desirable to provide safe and practical means for carrying the' same, but to also facilitate reducing the column of mercury therein to normal after it has been used. Frequently, great diiiic'ulty is yexperienced in successfully performing the latter operation, owing to the fact that it is difiicult to vobtain a good grip on `the thermometeru In v conjunction with the snapping wrist movement usually necessary tong-ive the same a snfiieientjar to bring `the mercury back to its normal condition. Furthermore,

in addition'to the hazard of,` the thermometer slipping from the hand in the mercury resetting operation it is likely to strike against an obstruction which will cause it` to be broken. Having these di''liculties in view the present invention aims to providea simple and practical case which may be conveniently carried in the pocket or physicians'.

valise to protect the thermometer while thus beingtransported, and also .while still held in the protecting sheath or case may be subportion of the device may be readily manipulated to obtain the desired shock o r jar for resetting, while thoroughly protected. A further object of' the invention is to provide a casing which may be made in an economical manner, and lby reason of its simple construction my .be readily manipulated to obtain the'desired result in a thoroughly satisfactory manner.

lith the above and other obyects 1n view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood,

. Specicaton of Letters Patent. Ptatlted B131', 16,1920,

Application led .Tune 4, 191,9. `Serial No. 801,692. l

the same` consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts here-v inafter Amore fully described, illustrated i nd claimed. Y i

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the Vaccompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of the casing .forming the subject'matter of the pres-l t ent invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view thereof illustratmg the .manner of manipulating the same for the purpose of resetting or reduc ing the mercury column.

Fig. 3 is -a side elevation thereof. Fig.' 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line lt-4L of Fig. 3. V

Similar reference* characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several Y- LxO'ures of the drawings. q I

ln carrying the present invention into effect it is proposed to utilize any material suitable and available f'orthat purpose, such for instance as leather, hard rubber or metal. As shown in the drawings the. present kinvention essentially comprises a relatively rigid thermometer' carrier y having body portion l of elongated'formation which has fitted to one face thereof a suitable sheath or casing part 2 which provides a pocket for receiving the thermometer T,

while the end thereof adjacent the entrance A to thecasing 2 is provided with a Hap whichV isadapted togfold over on to the body l in VsuchV a manner as to .form additional protection forl the thermometer carried within the casing part 2. t

Thel said yflap' 3 essentially consists of a relatively stiff` or rigid body portionl and a flexible web portion 5 for connecting the l stifi'ened or rigid portion ofthe flap with thel similar part l of the thermometer carrier.- As previouslyl indicated 'when the flap. 3 is folded toward the-side of the thermometer carrier base on which the pocket 2 is provided, .it provides for thoroughly protecting the thermometer from breakage and gives added strength and reinforcement to the entire device, and in order to provide a more compact device, and also more ade-y quately protect the thermometer, the inside face of the relatively stiliE or Irigid'part l of the flap may be'provided with a groove or depression 6 as. shown in Figs. 3 andV 4;, whereby the thermometer may nest within the groove and have the function of holding the flap and base against relative lateral or sidewise slipping. Y l

In addition. to this protecting feature of the flap 3 the rigid portion Il constitutes a handle whereby the device may be readily carrying base l connected to the web 5 will be subjected to a sudden jar when the handle portion of the flap is held in the hand of the operator and given a sharp downwardV thrust.

The manner of manipulating the casing to effect the desired result is illustrated in Fig.` 2 wherein the dotted lines show how the rigid portion l of the flapv may be gripped by the hand. with the thumb and forefinger gripping the flexible part 5 between the two relatively rigid or stiff members so that the thermometer carrying part may have a free swinging movement through an arc of va circle, and when abruptly stopped will produce aV sufficientl shock or ar to lower the column of ymercury in the thermometer. At the start of the operation the thermometer carrying part l will occupysubstantially the position indicated by the dotted line a, and upon downward movement of the` hand the part l will move iii the direction of the arrow to the several dotted line positions indicated until it reaches the position indicated the dotted line Zn where the reducing shock or jar takesV place. Thus the operation of reducing the mercury to its normal position involves substantially the same action as snapping a whip, as the casing is held by the `hand and the arm'given a movement simi- 1mometer and at the same time affords means for readily manipulating the casingr to quickly and safely reduce the mercury column. And, while various changes of'material and design may be resorted to in different commercial embodiments of the 1n- .vention, nevertheless the essential features of the thermometer carrying base and a relatively rigid flap which constitutes a combined protector and manipulating handle are adhered to. vThat is to say, while the form of invention shown in the accompanying drawing is aV preferred embodiment thereof, it will of course be understood that various changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the appended claims.

I claim 'Y l. A thermometer case consisting of a pair of members connected by a flexible intermediate web portion whereby they may be folded toward each other into registering relation, and mean-s carried by the inner face of one of said relatively rigid members for housing a tiermometer whereby the vsame will be located between both members. when the same are in folded position.

sol

ing base,'and said relatively rigid part of the flap beingprovided with a groove on its inner face whereby the thermometer casing may nest therein when the flap'is folded on to the body.

l. A thermometer case including a thermometer lcarrying base, and a combined manipulating handle and` protecting flap hingedly connected with said base whereby the same may be folded into protecting relation iodo with reference to the thermometer carried i by the base. y

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

VILLIAM ANDERSON BLACK. Witnesses: Y C. E. Gooi-IES, J. E. FULGHAM. 

